What do you do with a game that’s had two solid games and a host of add on packs when it’s time for the next generation? What do you do when that game also holds the honor of being one of Xbox Live’s fan favorites for online play? Well, in the case of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, you take what worked and tweak it until it shines with all the luster you can imagine. And then you expand the game with a host of multiplayer options and hope you get an award winning combination. I'm happy to say that’s just what UbiSoft did.

I’m a fan of UbiSoft games. I’m not gonna lie to you. I’ve played more Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell than I care to admit. I think they have a great knack for giving gamers solid single player experiences and fully fleshed out multiplayer games. Surprisingly, they do it without the dreaded sacrifices that usually come with putting both things in one game. However, when it came to Ghost Recon series, I have always put it at the bottom of my UbiSoft favorites list. The first one felt clunky and the second one, while being worlds better, just didn’t have that certain something I was looking for. So, as I came to G.R.A.W., I had some ideas of what to expect. I knew we would get killer enemy AI, a difficult game and some neat multiplayer. What I didn’t expect was the sense of pure immersion into the game world that G.R.A.W. sets up for you.

Let’s get right to it, shall we? The graphics in G.R.A.W. are second to none. Okay, maybe Oblivion beats it by a notch, but they’re still gorgeous to look at. You get a solid sense that you are “there”, in the heat of Mexico or the dirt of Nicaragua. The graphical detail on the backgrounds are incredible with the textures helping flesh out the areas. Hell, when you’re pressed against a wall, you feel as thought that wall is solid and exists. The draw distance is ridiculous. The city stretches out in front of you in all it’s dirty glory. You can see a factory spitting out smoke, you can see water towers in the distance. If you knew you wouldn’t get your head shot off the moment you tried, you might want to just sit and look around awhile.

The characters are modeled very well and animate smoothly. Frame rate clicks along with no real hitches in the action, even when there is a ton of things going on around you. That crazy lighting we’ve come to know and love from UbiSoft is there as well. I don’t know how they use light as well as they do, but it makes a big difference in the look of their games. I know Microsoft was all about trumpeting the “photo realistic” graphics of their new machine but so far, not much is happening in terms of delivery. G.R.A.W. helps solve that little problem with some of the closest to photo realistic Sometimes it looks that good. It’s gritty, real and makes you feel like you’re there. A word to the wise, don’t skimp and get this game for any other system but the 360. Anything less than the next gen version is begging for disappointment.

Gameplay is what you've come to expect from the Ghost Recon series. You still command your troops, you still shoot at bad guys. But they’ve added a few new elements to G.R.A.W. that help take it a step beyond the old versions of Ghost Recon. Number one, the HUD interface is much better. Much clearer and easier to manage. Second, the tactical map that you pull up with the Select button is now in 3D. What an improvement ! Why hasn’t this been used before? After one mission using it you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it and shudder at the idea of having to go back to the old way. Another nice new feature is the Cross-Com system. It’s basically a Picture in Picture style window that let’s you see through the eyes of your team or through an A/V drone that lets you see enemy positions. It’s cool to send out your drone into areas and let it spy on the enemies. Being able to see and control various facets of you team/equipment is a big plus towards making the game fun and easy to manage.

As you can imagine, players still have to use every damn button on the controller but seeing as you have so many things to do, it’s no shock. Nevertheless, it takes some getting used to, so a Kirby game this is not. However, for what you need to do, the buttons are elegantly mapped and make sense within the context of the game. Enemies are still a cast iron bitch as you progress through the level. They have no qualms about filling your head with shrapnel if you are stupid enough to travel too far from cover. It really is a pretty good enemy AI system, but Ghost Recon has always had that. What still needs some improvement, however, is the AI of your teammates. They still want to run straight into a fire fight like some version of Rambo with a head injury. Your teammates will die. Not from anything you did, but from their own stupidity and you will be pissed. Mostly because there are many time when you NEED all the members of your team and when one pisses his life away it makes your job harder. Overall, I could have used some more AI tweaks, but the game is still a blast to play.

One of my favorite things about Ghost Recon is the ability to play Co-Op with my friends. G.R.A.W. delivers on that end in spades. All new missions for folks to play together, it really is nice to see so much time given to this idea. Co-Op mode even has a set of Achievements that you can get. Very nice. Online deathmatch style multiplayer is still one of the big features of this game and UbiSoft has given quite a bit of attention to it as well. Lots of customizable options are here for you to play with. In fact, it’s so vast you can create just about any type of set up you can imagine. Hours and hours can be spent in multiplayer modes and the creators know it. You don’t just put in an Achievement for playing multiplayer for 8 hours in a row for nothing. Ridiculous as it may be, I can see playing for that long and not realizing it.


To find out more on G.R.A.W, check out our March 11th episode of Team Fremont Live.




Article By: Hilden